The WNBA slammed head-first into one glaring logistical risk of holding a mid-season tournament championship game smack-dab in the middle of the calendar. The New York Liberty hosted the Las Vegas Aces fresh off a four-game West Coast road trip, flying back from the Bay Area the day before. But they had it better than the Las Vegas Aces, for whom A’ja Wilson had just sprained her ankle.
So it’d be the Wilson-less Aces vs the Liberty (still missing Satou Sabally, in concussion protocol), each seeking
to be the first WNBA team to win their second Commissioner’s Cup Championship.
The game doesn’t count toward regular-season standings or stats, but the rivalry is real, and Jonquel Jones laid out further stakes a few weeks back, when she smiled and said: “The more I’ve played it, the more I’ve enjoyed it, and I think it’s great for the league … And $30,000 is $30,000.”
Sabrina Ionescu is not one to leave money lying around. She’s struggled to return from her back and ankle injuries, posting a 45.2 TS% through eight regular-season games, but decidedly turned it around on Tuesday night. Though it won’t count toward her season-long stats, Ionescu posted 26 points and five assists on 5-of-13 from deep, all team-highs. The 3-pointers ignited the Barclays Center crowd, but Ionescu being able to get to the basket — occasionally against the stout defense of Jackie Young — was an even more promising sign…
She scored New York’s first eight points of the game and put Vegas in a chokehold; the Liberty were up 51-37 at the half. The Aces, without the best player in the world, could not keep a surprisingly lively Liberty squad off the glass or out of the paint; Ionescu tossed some rim assists but Breanna Stewart and Pauline Astier were also living in the paint…
Count Chelsea Gray impressed: “[Astier] is solid for them. She’s quick and gets into the paint, whether she finishes it or collapses the defense and sprays out to the shooters all around her. Really solid player.”
Head Coach Chris DeMarco, with a (small) trophy on the line, coached like it was a playoff game. The five starters all played 31+ minutes, and Marine Johannès led just three bench players with 19 total minutes. Raquel Carrera was the third big, rather than Han Xu, and most notably, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton did not play.
“We tightened up the rotation a little bit tonight,” said DeMarco. “She’s still going to be part of this going forward happened tonight.”
It would have been less of a story if DeMarco left it there, but he was asked a follow-up — if he had communicated the DNP to Betnijah beforehand: “We didn’t — You know, sometimes when you play a team and they’re healthy, you have an understanding of what the rotation is going to look like. ‘Are we going to play smaller? Are we going to play big?’ We had no idea, obviously, with A’ja out, so yeah, a little bit more unpredictable than normal.”
To this observer, it seemed like a convoluted dance around the fact that Laney-Hamilton is simply not one of the eight most-trusted Liberty players right now. No need re-litigate that point again, but expect this to be on ongoing story.
DeMarco’s tight rotation could not pull away from Vegas, though. A 17-point third quarter lead evaporated over the next ten minutes, and the Aces took their first lead with eight minutes to go. Jackie Young put up 21 points and four assists (of her 31 and 7) in the second half, taking over the game and threatening to steal it outright from the Libs. We saw shades of Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Finals, where the undermanned, determined Aces made 16,000 Barclays Center fans panic and groan with each Liberty miss.
“I mean, we knew that that punch was coming,” said Stewart. “We knew it was coming from Vegas, just because of how incredibly talented their players are.”
But New York righted the ship in this one. Sabrina and Stewie checked back in with 7:12 left and carried the Libs home. Sadly, this game tape will not count toward Breanna Stewart’s DPOY case, but she was dominant on that end while scoring 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting.
Astier and Leonie Fiebich scored layups on consecutive transition opportunities to give New York a bit of breathing room. Fortunately for the Libs, Jackie Young missed a similar opportunity, and then Ionescu dropped a cinematic, 28-foot dagger…
Breanna Stewart won the Commissioner’s Cup MVP trophy, a fine selection given her two-way brilliance. But Tuesday night, in the context of New York’s 2026 campaign, was really about Sabrina Ionescu. For the first time all season, she looked like the best version of herself. Not for a possession or for a quarter, for full 40 minutes of a high-stakes game against a rival.
Said Stewie of her teammate: “When you’re coming back from an injury, it’s tough. The process is tough. The mental is tough, and she continued to stick with it. And I think that her being aggressive and making those threes — and that dagger three, especially those big moments — we need that. I think also just, for her confidence, to continue to ride along that, I’m really happy for her.”
Postgame, Ionescu said that the win was “special.”
“I love doing it with this group,” she said. “I love doing it here in New York, and it’s so special being able to win here, and you understand, obviously, the significance and importance of wanting to be your best when the lights are shining the brightest, and that’s tonight.”
Again, this win against the Wilson-less Aces does not change the Liberty’s 12-8 record, a .600 winning percentage that feels disappointing for much of the fanbase, but it is an important win nonetheless. Did anybody doubt that Sabrina Ionescu was still Sabrina Ionescu? Perhaps not, but now we have proof.
The New York Liberty celebrated the accomplishment well, with DeMarco noting that any opportunity to pour champagne on one another must be taken. His team obliged well into the night, with players scrambling out of scrums to toast their glasses and take team photos. Tomorrow, New York will face plenty of questions on their path to another WNBA championship. But tonight, for a moment, they are champions.
Next Up
The tests don’t stop here. New York will host rookie sensation Olivia Miles and the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
